1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coffeemaker that makes iced coffee using ground coffee.
2. Prior Art
Generally two types of coffeemakers are known. One is a drip type and the other is a paper filter type. In such coffeemakers, coffee is extracted by pouring high temperature hot water into a coffee funnel that has ground coffee therein, and the liquid (extracted) coffee that drips from this coffee funnel is collected.
In the coffeemakers disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 61-179115 and Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 59-7732, high-temperature hot water obtained by way of heating water in a water tank by a heater is poured into a chamber (coffee funnel) that contains ground coffee, and high-temperature liquid coffee that drips from this chamber passes through an ice chamber that contains ice, and cooled liquid coffee is collected in a decanter that is set beneath this ice chamber. In short, in these coffeemakers, high-temperature liquid coffee is cooled by pouring it into ice.
In the coffeemaker disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 2000-184966, high-temperature liquid coffee that drips from a chamber (coffee funnel) is conducted either directly into a pot or into a coffee cooling device via a conduit, and the coffee is cooled in this coffee cooling device. In regard to this coffee cooling device, this prior art merely describes that the cooling device is the one conventionally used, and no description of the internal structure of the coffee cooling device is described.
The coffeemaker disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application laid-Open (Kokai) No. 04-121835 causes high-temperature liquid coffee to drop into a container, conducts the high-temperature liquid coffee into a separate receiving tank by means of a conduit (a hot beverage extraction means), and cools this receiving tank by a refrigerating device.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 2002-199987 discloses a water-discharge type coffee extraction device. In this extraction device, melt water that drips from an ice container is caused to drip into a filter that contains ground coffee, and coffee is extracted over a long period of time.
In the coffeemakers described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 61-179115 and Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 59-7732, high-temperature liquid coffee is cooled when it comes into direct contact with ice. In other words, the cooled liquid coffee is diluted by the water that is melted from the ice. Accordingly, the flavor of the iced coffee deteriorates, and the problem is that the taste and smell of the ice is transferred to the liquid coffee.
The structure of the coffee cooling device in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 2000-184966 is unclear; however, if in this structure the liquid coffee is poured into ice that is placed in the coffee cooling device beforehand, then the coffee will be diluted by the melt water from the ice. Thus, problems similar to those of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 61-179115 and Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 59-7732 arise.
The coffeemaker described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 2000-184966 contains a refrigerating device, and thus it requires a compressor, etc. As a result, the coffeemaker is complex in structure and large in size; and it is considered that this coffeemaker is for commercial use and is not suitable for general household use.
The device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 2002-199987 extracts coffee using ice water. The extraction time is conspicuously longer than in the case in which liquid coffee is cooled after being extracted with hot water, and the taste is also completely different.